Today

Search

ALS, Alexander Language Schools Franchise


Oct 21, 2010

Activity detected at North Korea nuclear test site

A satellite image of Yongbyon, North Korea, released by DigitalGlobe in May 2009. REUTERS/DigitalGlobe/Handout
A satellite image of Yongbyon, North Korea, released by DigitalGlobe in May 2009.
Credit: Reuters/DigitalGlobe/Handout
By Jeremy Laurence
SEOUL | Thu Oct 21, 2010 8:30am EDT
SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. satellite has detected increased activity at a North Korean nuclear weapons test site, suggesting it could be preparing for a third test, a South Korean government source was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Spanish smoking ban goes into effect

Spanish smokers faced a wrenching change New Year’s Day as a nationwide ban on tobacco in the workplace came into force in a country known for its smoky bars.

It became illegal to smoke in office buildings, shopping malls, cultural centers and public transportation, among other indoor spaces. Bars and restaurants with more than 1,100 square feet of floor space now must have nonsmoking areas, the first step in a process that will eventually require the areas to be physically sealed off from the rest of the establishment.

Appeals court stays ruling on gays in military

A participant waves a flag during a gay rights demonstration in Washington October 11, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley
By Peter Henderson
SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:49am EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that the Pentagon may temporarily reinstate a ban on openly gay men and women in uniform while a lengthier stay in favor of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy is considered.

Afghan peace council to offer concessions to Taliban

U.S. Marines from 1st Battalion 8th Marines head out on patrol from an outpost at Kunjak in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, October 21, 2010. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL | Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:19pm EDT
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's new peace council said on Thursday it would be willing to make concessions to bring insurgents to the negotiating table, and called for Saudi Arabia's help in mediating peace talks.

French unions call two more days of protests

A French high school student shouts slogans during a demonstration over pension reform in Paris October 21, 2010. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
A French high school student shouts slogans during a demonstration over pension reform in Paris October 21, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Charles Platiau


 
France inflamed but Sarkozy firm (02:05) Report
PARIS | Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:14pm EDT
PARIS (Reuters) - France's main unions called for two more days of protests against a government pension reform bill that is due for a final vote in the Senate this week.
Protests would take place on October 28 and November 6, they said.
(Reporting by Jean Baptiste Vey; Editing by Peter Graff)

Thousands of Germans opt out of Google Street View

Google Street View camera car, AFP
Protests have greeted Google's Street View camera cars in Germany
Almost 250,000 Germans have told Google to blur pictures of their homes on the Street View service.

Money Morning Mailbag: When Investing in Precious Metals, 'Physical Metal' Isn't Always Better

If there's one thing that I've discovered in my careers as a hedge-fund manager, investment advisor and financial columnist, it's this: Whenever you pitch a stock that has something to do with mining or metals, you'll always hear the argument that "physical metal is better."

The Peoples Voice News

Permalink What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq

The U.S.-led invasion and then occupation of Iraq brought a sharp setback to the rights of women in that country, UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid tells IPS in an interview. The view that Muslim societies are necessarily backward on the position of women arises from stereotyping, she says. And she speaks of herself as a Muslim woman who does not fit the stereotype.

Permalink France Erupts Sarkozy Under Siege

The French are deeply unhappy with the way they have been governed, but their main grievance is about pension reform, which is seen as a cynical ploy to make ordinary people work more for inferior entitlements, while bailed-out bankers and the rich get tax rebates and continue to enjoy the high life.

Permalink US-trained cartel terrorises Mexico

Founders of the Zetas drug gang learned special forces techniques at Ft. Bragg before waging a campaign of carnage. Despite the deployment of 50,000 troops, Mexico seems to be losing the 'war on drugs' It was a brutal massacre even by the gruesome standards of Mexico’s drug war: 72 migrant workers gunned down by the "Zetas" - arguably the country’s most violent cartel - and left rotting in a pile outside a ranch in Tamaulipas state near the US border in late August.

Permalink UK announces 490,000 job cuts

Harshest austerity measures since second world war unveiled as public spending is slashed to deal with country's debts. Osborne said that the job losses were 'unavoidable when the country has run out of money'. Britain will cut 490,000 public sector jobs over four years under austerity measures designed to reduce the country's record deficit. George Osborne, the finance minister, told parliament on Wednesday that the job losses were "unavoidable when the country has run out of money". "Today is the day that Britain steps back from the brink. It is a hard road but it leads to a better future," he said.

Permalink Showcasing the Crude, the Violent and the Aberrant The Media and the Far Right

Last Sunday in the October 10, 2010 New York Times, two very lengthy features appeared on the rancid Ann Coulter and the blogger Pamela Geller—a grotesque anti-Semite against Arabs who flaunts her sweeping bigotry as a badge of pride. Geller even called herself a ‘racist-Islamophobic-anti-Muslim-bigot’. One veteran reporter called the sprawling two page feature, with all of twenty color photos “an advertisement.”

Permalink A new stage in the war on dissent

Michael Ratner is the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a leading organization in opposing the dismantling of civil liberties under the Bush, and now Obama, administrations. He spoke with Nicole Colson about the recent raids on the homes and offices of antiwar and socialist activists in Chicago, Minneapolis and North Carolina--and why the Obama administration, despite claims to the contrary, has been disastrous when it comes to promises to protect our civil liberties.

Permalink The French strike wave: A new stage in the class struggle

The strikes and mass demonstrations in France against pension cuts are the latest and most developed expression of a new stage in the class struggle—the entry of the international working class into mass opposition against the ruthless assault on jobs and living standards being carried out by the capitalists. These events deal a shattering blow to all claims that the working class is a spent force and the class struggle is a relic of the past. Once again, the immense social power of the working class is beginning to find expression. The basic division of modern society, between the bourgeoisie and the working class, is asserting itself under conditions of a historic breakdown of world capitalism.

Permalink Major FAIR Exposé of PBS: Taking the 'Public' Out of Public TV

A multi-part FAIR exposé of PBS's most prominent news and public affairs programs demonstrates that public television is failing to live up to its mission to provide an alternative to commercial television, to give voice to those "who would otherwise go unheard" and help viewers to "see America whole, in all its diversity," in the words of public TV's founding document. What PBS Thinks You Need to Know

Permalink Geithner Weak Dollar Seen as U.S. Recovery Route

For U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, a weaker dollar may now be in the national interest. The dollar has dropped more than 7 percent since Aug. 27, when Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled the Federal Reserve is prepared to ease monetary policy. Where once such a decline may have been met with resistance from the U.S., Geithner may now be tolerating it as a way of bolstering the recovery.

Permalink Obama spending stimulates the national debt by $3,039,000,000,000

No wonder the president's wife is passing the hat to his supporters asking for $3 campaign donations. Have you seen the size of the national debt? It's a new record. The United States of America now owes someone(s) $13,665,000,000,000. By 2012, when Hillary Clinton next challenges Barack Obama for their party's presidential nomination, the national debt will be even larger than today's record -- $16,500,000,000,000, according to current federal estimates. That's more money than the entire United States economy produces in a complete year.

Permalink AWAKENING OF THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

Please, be so kind to listen to me; I am not going to speak long. Wise persons do not need long speeches, what they need is a short, but sensible and comprehensible talk. With all my compliments and respect to you I would like to speak to you concisely and clearly, the way I would speak to intelligent people.

Permalink Who do you think you're kidding Mr Geithner?

There’s a race going on right now. A "war" if you take the words of Brazil’s finance minister, Guido Mantega, to devalue currency. The reason is simple: by keeping your currency low against your competitor you will export more. Timothy Geithner, the US treasury secretary, says his country is not involved in currency manipulation. On the other hand, the US accuses China of being a currency manipulator and has delayed publishing a report to this effect.

Permalink Workers Without Status in France

At the end of the afternoon of May 27, a mass demonstration marched into the Place de la Bastille in Paris. The march itself represented what can now be viewed as a low point in the national union mobilizations to challenge the proposed weakening of France's public pension regime and other reactionary responses of Nicholas Sarkozy's government to the world economic crisis. But despite the rain, despite the niggling worry that fatigue was overtaking the movement and apathy the French public, a group of marchers went to work making sure it was a day the French labour movement won't soon forget.

Penthouse founder Bob Guccione dies of cancer

Bob Guccione makes an appearance in 1996 to promote a film project. He was 79.
Bob Guccione makes an appearance in 1996 to promote a film project. He was 79.
(CNN) -- Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione died Wednesday of cancer at a Plano, Texas, hospital, his family said Wednesday night.
Guccione, 79, died at Plano Specialty Hospital, with his wife, April Dawn Warren Guccione and two of his children, Bob Jr. ..

Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth are not engaged -- yet

t1larg.reese.gi.jpg 
(PEOPLE) -- Wedding bells aren't ringing quite yet for Reese Witherspoon and her agent beau Jim Toth.
Despite reports suggesting the couple are ready to take their relationship to the next

Inter survive Spurs fightback as Bale scores San Siro hat-trick

Young and old: Gareth Bale, left, and Javier Zanetti were key performers at the San Siro on Wednesday night.
Young and old: Gareth Bale, left, and Javier Zanetti were key performers at the San Siro on Wednesday night.
(CNN) -- Titleholders Inter Milan gave newcomers Tottenham a Champions League lesson on Wednesday night before the English club's young winger Gareth Bale underlined his status as one of football's most promising prospects.

French protesters march in Paris as lawmakers vote

Paris, France (CNN) -- Students demonstrated in central Paris on Thursday as protesters and lawmakers went down to the wire in a battle over pension reform. P

Galaxy is most distant object yet

Hubble Ultra Deep Field with UDFy-38135539 inset (Nasa/Esa)
The faintest of faint dots - a signal from the edge of the observable Universe
A tiny faint dot in a Hubble picture has been confirmed as the most distant galaxy ever detected in the Universe.

Russia earmarks 900 state firms for public sale

Oil field in Siberia
Rosneft is one of the state-owned assets to be used to raise revenues
Russia has announced further details of plans for its biggest privatisation since the 1990s - which could raise up to 1.8 trillion roubles ($60bn; £38bn)

Gene linked to depression 'fixed' in mice

Gene therapy in mice appears to be able to "correct" a gene defect strongly linked to depression in people.

Abnormal behaviour in mice lacking a gene in a specific brain region was reversed after injections of a modified virus.

India malaria deaths hugely underestimated, says report

The number of people dying from malaria in India has been hugely underestimated, according to new research.

The data, published in the Lancet, suggests there are 13 times more malaria deaths in India than the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.

Settlers start 600 new homes after ban ends: watchdog

A construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, 20 October
Construction in West Bank settlements has resumed since the freeze expired on 26 September
Jewish settlers have started building more than 600 homes in the West Bank since a building freeze expired last month, an Israeli pressure group says.

Toyota to recall over a million cars in US and Japan

2005 Toyota Avalon
The latest recall affects Toyota Avalon cars built between 2005-06, among others
Toyota has announced a recall of more than 1.5 million cars worldwide over brake and fuel pump defects.

French workers vow to step up pension protests

French workers will step up their protests against pension reforms next week, a top trade union leader says.

Bernard Thibault, head of the CGT workers' confederation, made the statement as union leaders prepared to discuss plans to hold a seventh day of national protests across France

BBC News - Spending Review: Osborne defends 'fairness' of cuts

George Osborne said some call his cuts too harsh, while others say they don't go far enough
Chancellor George Osborne has defended the "fairness" of his UK spending cuts after Labour claims they were reckless and would hit the poorest hardest.
He told the BBC that, including Budget measures, the top 10% of earners would be hit hardest but everyone was making a contribution to cutting the deficit.
He said "the path to economic ruin" lay ahead if the deficit was not tackled.

BBC News - UN drops award sponsored by Equatorial Guinea's Obiang

Equatorial Guinea President Obiang
President Obiang sponsored the $3m (£2m) life sciences prize
A United Nations agency has suspended plans to grant a prize sponsored by Equatorial Guinea President Teodor Obiang Nguema after lobbying by human rights groups.

BBC News - Court allows Pentagon to re-instate ban on gay soldiers

Lieutenant Dan Choi 
Some gay people discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy have attempted to re-enlist
An appeals court has ruled the US military can temporarily reinstate a ban on openly gay people serving, in a move adding to disarray on the issue.

Gunbattles stir panic in 2 Mexican border cities

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico – Mexican soldiers battled gunmen in two cities across the border from Texas on Wednesday, prompting panicked parents to pull children from school and factories to warn workers to stay inside. Assailants in a third city threw a grenade at an army barracks.

Young woman decapitated in Ciudad Juarez

(CNN) -- A young woman was found decapitated in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, late Tuesday, local officials told CNN.

20-year-old woman becomes top cop in violent Mexican municipality

 
(CNN) -- Some headlines are hailing her as the bravest woman in Mexico. Marisol Valles Garcia, all of 20 years old, says she's just tired of everyone being afraid.

Israel marks 15th anniversary of Rabin's assassination

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) sits with Israel's President Shimon Peres during a memorial ceremony at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem marking the anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Oct. 20, 2010. Israel's leadership gathered late Wednesday at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem to mark the 15th anniversary of the. (Xinhua/POOL/Alex Kolomoisky)

Yahoo News

Oct 20, 2010

Tibetan students in China protest over language policy

Students marching to centre of Rongwo Town at the gate of Rongwo Monastery 19 October
The Tibetan students are said to be angered by changes to education policy
At least 1,000 ethnic Tibetan students in China have protested against what they call the erosion of their culture and language, a rights group says.

Pope Benedict picks 24 new cardinals

Pope Benedict, 20/10
Pope Benedict has now chosen three groups of cardinals
Pope Benedict XVI has chosen 24 new cardinals, including 10 Italians, as he moves to put his stamp on Vatican affairs.
Twenty of the new cardinals, who are the Pope's close advisers, are under the age of 80, making them eligible to choose the next pontiff.

Chilean politician alleges miners' warnings 'ignored'

A police officer stands guard by the capsule outside the presidential palace in Santiago
The Chilean Navy has patented the name and design of the rescue capsule
A Chilean politician has alleged that on the day the San Jose mine collapsed trapping 33 men, workers voiced safety fears but were told to stay on shift.
Deputy Carlos Vilches said one of the miners had told him that managers refused their request to surface some three hours before the disaster.

Portugal transformed by green energy revolution

The lights of Lisbon: Around 45 percent of Portugal's power now comes from renewable sources.
Lisbon, Portugal (CNN) -- In recent years Portugal has been harnessing its enviable southern European climate to benefit more than just its tourism industry.

Pinera: Mining conditions must improve

London, England (CNN) -- Chile's president said Monday that conditions must improve in the country's mining industry, just days after 33 miners were rescued from a collapsed mineshaft at a copper mine in the country's remote Atacama Desert.

British aid worker released in Somalia

Somali government fighters battle militants in Mogadishu last month.
(CNN) -- Somali gunmen on Wednesday released a British aid worker kidnapped last week while working for Save the Children.
The aid worker, named as Zimbabwe-born Frans Barnard, was freed after tribal elders negotiated with his captors, Save the Children confirmed.

Saudi prince gets life in prison for murdering servant

London, England (CNN) -- A British court sentenced a Saudi prince Wednesday to the maximum penalty of life in prison for murdering his servant.

Fresh clashes as French protests continue

(CNN) -- Fresh clashes broke out Wednesday between protesters and police in France as hundreds of thousands rallied in opposition to planned pension reforms.

GEC To Stay At GCIC Until Dec. 31, Guam

Guam- 12 days are left until the General Election, and the Guam Election Commission is on track in its preparations for the big event.

In fact, the agency won't be moving out of the GCIC building anytime soon. GEC has a home at least until the end of the year. Executive Director John Blas told the Board of Directors during their Wednesday meeting that a check in the amount of $6,683.23 was cut for them to remain at GCIC until December 31. He also told members, the Department of Administration is working on the $534 still owed for their August rent to the landlord and $9,000 to utilize GCIC's second floor conference room. Board member Martha Ruth also suggested the use of the Department of Labor's conference room to save more money.

IT’S WAR: Public servants give TT government ultimatum

 
 PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Thousands of public servants took to the streets in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday in support of their demands for increased salaries as the Public Service Association (PSA) called for a national strike next week.The PSA is demanding that public workers would not be accepting anything less than TT$6,000 (US$1,000) a month and the union’s president Watson Duke said that the authorities were maintaining their original offer.

Wedding bells for five of Chile's rescued miners

Image: Trapped miner Esteban Rojas hugs his wife as he prays after reaching the surface to become the 18th to be rescued from the San Jose mine in Copiapo
Hugo Infante / Government of Chile via Reuters file
Trapped miner Esteban Rojas hugs his wife Jessica Yanez after reaching the surface on October 13. They are now to be married in church, 25 years after their civil ceremony.
COPIAPO, Chile — Five of Chile's 33 rescued miners are to have church weddings after surviving for more than two months trapped underground.

WINNERS in Currency Wars, Oct 20, 2010


The return of “great power politics” - Stabroek News

Oct 20, 2010 — October 20, 2010 ... Smaller frontier economies could be the winners ... in the same way conventional wars defined the 20th, some say.

Thaksin's zero-sum game is a road to self-destruction

Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return to Thailand if his proxy Pheu Thai Party sweeps the next election and forms a one-party government, a satellite television station run by his family said recently

A life-and-death issue

With the Philippines remembering the first anniversary of the days when the deadly and destructive storms 'Ondoy' (Ketsana) and 'Pepeng' (Parma) struck Metro Manila and a great part of Luzon, now is a good time to remind ourselves of the causes of the great flood. One of them was the unprecedented volume of water that Ondoy brought: about six months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours. But this was aggravated by other causes, like discarded plastic bags clogging esteros, canals and other waterways.

A neglected necessity

Sooner or later someone you know will likely be busy scurrying back and forth to a hospital, caring for a child or spouse who has a high fever and a low hemoglobin count. All sorts of tips will come flooding in from friends, such as guava juice to raise the HB count, and dried worm pills for stamina. However, pending a diagnosis to determine whether the patient has dengue or a mysterious new disease, they may be forced to wait in a temporary ward — or worse, in the hallway — as all the beds are occupied.

Pakistan’s cloak-and-dagger democracy

The simmering crisis in Pakistan deepens with the government attempting a swingback to the Musharraf era in terms of its dealings with the judiciary. In a development that is almost unparalleled, the chief justice of the Supreme Court has sought an explanation on the reported move to subjugate the judges once again. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Geelani has advanced a feeble denial, couched in the sanctimonious cant that the Pakistani Peoples Party (PPP) leaders “have sacrificed their lives for the independence of the judiciary”.

Scientists say Asia's corals dying en masse

Coral reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean are dying from the worst bleaching effect in more than a decade, Australian marine scientists said Tuesday.

Surabaya offers an appealing alternative

It is neater, cleaner and more orderly - quite unlike Jakarta’s oppressiveness

To many Malaysians, Surabaya - Indonesia’s second largest city - is a mystery.

Certainly most of our businessmen head straight to Jakarta only to end up being overwhelmed by the capital’s sheer size and complexities.

India at the high table

India's uncontested elevation to a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, with endorsement from 187 of the UN's 192 member-states, erases the humiliation of 1996 when New Delhi unwisely contested against Japan and lost badly.

How deep runs the Commonwealh Games rot

mplications of the old saying about what happens when “thieves fall out” would appear to underlie the Congress’ imposing a gag order on Delhi state leader Sheila Dikshit and Commonwealth Games organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi. It was not merely to avoid embarrassment to the party, but a calculated damage-containment exercise. For when reacting to Sheila’s allegations against the CWG org

Prepared for ‘Juan’

The Philippines' capital Metro Manila may be heaving a sigh of relief after having been mostly spared by the wrath of Super-typhoon 'Juan' (international codename: Megi), but it should empathise with the plight of Northern Luzon that bore the brunt of the storm’s destructive crossing and must not rest its guard lest it be caught flat-footed again the way it was during 'Ondoy' (Ketsana). The supertyphoon has largely brought damage to the northeastern corridor of the archipelago, geographically the first landfall of storms and the most drenched and affected by Pacific howlers. Despite being weather-beaten and storm-tossed, the geographical location of that region and its relative inaccessibility have somehow also ensured that its beautiful flora and fauna are preserved and renewed, especially from the depredation of greedy loggers and the despoliation of tourist-wastrels.

Sandra Bullock Anne Fletcher Ryan Reynolds The Proposal

By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Have you ever heard the famous bit of homespun Texas wisdom, “You dance with the one who brung you?” Bet Sandra Bullock, who has adopted the Lone Star state, knows it, so it makes sense to learn the actress is sticking with Warner Bros., the studio that successfully guided ..

Zagat Hollywood Steve Spielberg Meryl Streep 3-D


By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: All lists are subjective, and most movie lists are flawed. But if there’s a constant when it comes to compilations, it’s that they always stimulate great debate.

BBC News - Mel Gibson lands Hangover 2 cameo role

Mel Gibson
Gibson's next movie, Beaver, has seen its release date postponed
Hollywood actor Mel Gibson has landed a cameo role as a tattoo artist in the Hangover sequel, it has been reported.
Industry newspaper The Hollywood Reporter said the Braveheart star will join original cast members including Bradley Cooper in the movie.
The original film, about a disastrous stag ..

Bomber who killed seven at CIA base 'was not vetted'

Click to play

The clip purportedly shows al-Balawi (r) with Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud

A suicide bomber who killed seven CIA agents at a meeting at a remote base in eastern Afghanistan in January had not been properly vetted, the CIA has said.

France clears fuel blockades ahead of pension vote

A man holds a placard which reads 'Listen to the public's rage' ...

Wed Oct 20, 8:24 AM

A man holds a placard which reads 'Listen to the public's rage' during a demonstration in front of the French Senate in Paris October 20, 2010.

REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Why China Stinks

Spending Review 2010: Live

Chancellor George Osborne is patted on the back by colleagues after delivering the Comprehensive Spending Review
Chancellor George Osborne gets a pat on the back by colleagues after delivering the Comprehensive Spending Review Photo: PA

Dramatic solar eclipse pictured by Nasa

Dramatic solar eclipse pictured by NASA
The moon passes between NASA'S Solar Dynamics Observatory and the sun Photo: NASA / BARCROFT

On October 7 the observatory's path around the Earth brought it in perfect alignment with the new Moon as it arced in front of the Sun.

Could the Government Seize Your Gold? Rules to Consider, Steps to Take

Could the government seize your gold?

It's a question that's being asked with increasing frequency these days. The United States is struggling with a post-financial-crisis economy that can't seem to get healthy, which has led to a ballooning budget deficit and a staggering national debt.